Black and Yellow Garden Spider?

rosewitch(Zone7)August 22, 2010

Last year I saw one of these spiders for the first time. It made it's web between the boxwood and the mailbox on the front of my cottage. I could have touched her she was so close. I had a front row seat everyday and got to see every meal. That spider was about 1-1/2 inches. She made her egg sac right up against the house and then she disappeared.

Since I had never seen one before I searched online for info and then because from what I read the spider keeps to the web; I didn't disturb her once I was sure she was going to stay put!

This year I hadn't seen any of these spiders until now. I was cutting grass along one side of the house a few days ago and then started to pull some weeds in the flower bed. I soon stopped when I saw the huge web. This web is almost two feet in diameter and the female spider was hanging upside down in the very center. She is almost 3 inches from leg tip to tip! I have been checking the web every day to make sure the spider stays put because if this one ever comes inside I will be leaving and selling the house!

I try really hard to leave nature's creepy critters alone and I do not use any chemicals in the garden so the good creepy crawlers can battle the bad ones! But when I saw how big this one is and how close she was to the dining room window I have to confess that it was a struggle to leave her in peace! She is kind of pretty but she had better stay outside.

Has anyone else found this spider in their garden?

Kat

"How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!"
~~~Isaac Watts
Here is a link that might be useful: [Yellow Garden Spider](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia)

I had one of these crawl on my bare arm when I was a boy. It scared the absolute bejeebers out of me and I shook my arm like an insane puppet until it dropped off. I think I must have blundered into its web while I was walking by some bushes in our yard. I remember it like it was yesterday and still shudder. I don't kill spiders when I see them, but only because I restrain myself. Usually.

That is just like the one in my garden! I check on her every morning before going to work and again when I get home. I just have to make sure she is still outside in the web. I can deal with the tinier spiders that I find in the house but this one is huge and needs to remain in the garden! She is kind of pretty!

lol. I love those Hinterland Who's-who send ups. Very clever!! I am seeing all kinds of interesting critters in my gardens lately: a pinkish salamander, and a pinkish snake, too. I really need to get proper book on them. Fun to see nature in all her glory.

We have several of these spiders around.... the kids catch grasshoppers and toss them into their webs and watch the spiders wrap 'em up.
Early this past spring, I heard an awful rukus right at the outside of the window - a bird was making lunch out of one of those egg sacs.
BBH

As of today she is still hanging upside down in the center of her web. I haven't seen any signs of an egg sac yet. At least this year there is no danger of me walking into this web. It's attached to the trellis that holds a large Clematis montana 'Rubens Odorata and is up against the house. Only problem is I was hoping to remove the ivy that is also growing in that area and then build a cold frame in that spot. But until she is gone, I will in no way work in that bed!
Kat

When I went to check on her a few days ago, she was gone! The web is gone and so is the spider! Acording to what I have read she was supposed to lay her egg sac and then as the weather cools she becomes frail and usually dies about the time of the first hard frost. We did have some cool nights last week, cool enough to put blankets back on the bed, but we certainly have not had our first hard frost! That should happen sometime between 9/24 to 10/6. I know that the chances of her coming inside are slim; but I couldn't help but check all corners of the inside of the house the last few days!

I can't see an egg sac, but she did build her web right next to a large Clematis montana Rubens, so lots of leaf coverage to hide in. As much as I want to tidy this bed and start building a cold-frame; I think I will work on other areas of the garden and wait until long after the first frost, so I know that spider is history!
Kat